‘ Copper:’ New York’s finest — and toughest

There are no Miranda warnings for suspects in New York City in 1864. If you have information the police want, it’s likely to be beaten out of you by a brass-knuckled fist.

Such is the world depicted in Season I of “Copper,” a BBC America series just out on disc. It’s a rough world where deceit and despair lurk beneath a veneer of good manners and fancy dress in the waning days of the Civil War.

Kevin “Corky” Corcoran is a former boxer who’s now a detective on the New York City police force. He’s not above using his fists to get his message across or subdue a stubborn suspect. He’s also apt to kill people who get in his way. The opening scene shows Corky and his cohorts chasing down and killing a group of bank robbers. Corky’s captain departs with the stolen money, and while nothing is said, the viewer gets the distinct impression that the loot will never make it back to the bank.

There’s plenty of corruption among the police in “Copper,” but it’s also there among the civilian citizenry, from prostitutes to high society. Most cops look the other way, but Corky has his own somewhat twisted code of ethics.

Corky is a haunted man. Two months before the events of the series, he returned from the war to find his young daughter dead and his wife missing. His search for her is woven through episodes involving murder, graft and, in the last few installments, a plot by Confederate agents to kill thousands of New Yorkers with an explosion of “Greek fire.”

A complex set of characters adds depth to the series. During his stint as a Union soldier, Corky befriended two very different men — Robert Morehouse, son of a wealthy and amoral New York industrialist, and Matthew Freeman, a black physician. Matthew saved Robert’s life by amputating part of his leg on the battlefield. Now, Matthew is practicing medicine in New York, and Robert has returned to his easy life as a rich man’s son.

The three work together to solve crimes. Robert uses his wealth and family connections to gather information, and Matthew autopsies murder victims, using a primitive form of CSI to find clues to the killer. He battles racism while Robert battles boredom. Corky fights crime in Five Points, a crime-ridden slum inhabited mostly by immigrants — many of them Irish like himself.

The first episode involves the murder of a young girl and introduces Annie, the girl’s sister and a key player in the series. Working with Matthew, Corky discovers the murder weapon, and that leads him to the man he believes is the killer. It’s not a simple arrest, though, due to official corruption. And Annie is being pursued by shadowy figures, probably to silence her.

The story of the girl’s murder runs across two episodes and highlights how tightly woven this series is. It’s more than just the same characters appearing time after time; the plots also feed directly into each other and take place in a relatively short time span.

In addition to more mundane murders, larger matters are afoot. Abraham Lincoln is running for re-election, and the corrupt Tammany Hall is marshaling men to vote for his opponent, George McClellan. One scene shows men being fitted with wigs, false beards and fake IDs so they can vote more than once. When Lincoln wins, the stage is set for violence as Southern agents prepare an explosive attack on the city. Even John Wilkes Booth makes an appearance.

Not everyone in New York is a staunch abolitionist. Nor is everyone what he or she seems on the surface, and this ratchets up the tension in the last couple of episodes.

There’s plenty of juicy stuff to go around in this series — prostitution, opium use, political and romantic treachery — and the end of the final episode leaves quite a few threads hanging. The second season, which probably will include Lincoln’s assassination, should prove interesting.

Special features: “Behind the Badge — The Making of Copper” featurette, deleted scenes, character video profiles